1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to amusement ride vehicles.
2. Background Art
Amusement ride vehicles must safely and securely carry passengers, yet allow easy ingress and egress of passengers. Prior art amusement ride vehicles have not effectively provided the above combination of characteristics.
Typically, in the prior art, a guest entering a vehicle must step up, down, or over a threshold from the loading platform into the seating area, by either stepping into the bottom of the vehicle, on a step within the vehicle, or on the vehicle seat. Usually a hand rail or some other means of support is needed to assist the guest. To exit the vehicle, the guest needs to step up or down to a platform, again generally requiring the use of a handrail or other means of support. Small children or physically disabled guests might need further assistance to enter or exit the vehicle. Furthermore, some guests find it objectionable to sit on seats on which they must first step to board a ride vehicle or on which other guests have stepped to exit the vehicle. Also, the threshold may pose a hazard for guests of tripping, stumbling, or slipping.
For guests in wheelchairs entering the vehicle, many prior art vehicles required that the guest be lifted into the vehicle and then secured with a number of belts. An alternative method of loading and unloading wheelchair-bound guests in prior art amusement ride water vehicles required the use of ramps. The drawbacks of these procedures include that they are time consuming, cause unwanted attention to be drawn to the wheelchair-bound guest, and may result in the guest being jostled.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,230,998, issued to Cramer on Jun. 26, 1917, describes a mechanism for actuating the seats of carousels or merry-go-rounds and particularly for imparting a forward and backward as well as vertical motion to the figures of horses and other animals. One of the objects is to provide an improved actuating mechanism by which the forward and backward movement of the figures is augmented in order to render their motion more realistic and amusing, without however increasing their vertical motion to such an extent that they can not be conveniently mounted when in their highest position. The Cramer patent does not describe a double hull amusement park ride vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,412,969, issued to Sachs on Apr. 18, 1922, describes a conveyor belt system for the movement of passengers or freight that provides loading and unloading stations where the acceleration and retardation of the passengers or freight, after being once initiated, is accomplished automatically by longitudinal movement rather than by lateral movement from one surface to another surface traveling at a different speed. The acceleration or retardation takes place in the direction of travel. The Sachs patent does not describe a double hull amusement park ride vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,440,661, issued to Dickinson on Jan. 2, 1923, describes an amusement device by means of which passengers may ride in a floating vehicle supported solely by the water and propelled therein in such a manner as to give peculiar and entertaining sensations. An object is to provide means whereby the several parts of the operating mechanism may be raised to view for the purpose of inspection whenever desired. The Dickinson patent does not describe a double hull amusement park ride vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,235,563, issued to Ridgway on Mar. 18, 1941, describes an amusement park boat ride in which each boat is adapted to carry passengers, and is arranged to be propelled or drawn in a tank or runway of water. The boats are provided with the capability of effecting a jumping or leaping action and simulating a high-speed motor craft. The Ridgway patent does not describe a double hull amusement park ride vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,635, issued to Bacon, et al. on Apr. 16, 1965, describes a passenger-carrying boat amusement park ride having a continuous waterway with a section that is bifurcated to define first and second branches, each of the branches being provided with a passenger loading station. The apparatus includes an upwardly inclined ramp which raises the boats onto a discharge conveyor with the latter supporting the boats in a non-buoyant condition that eliminates any tipping of the boats during passenger loading and unloading. After the boats are loaded they return to the waterway by means of a downwardly inclined ramp. The Bacon, et al. patent does not describe a double hull amusement park ride vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,515,074, issued to Helbig on Jun. 2, 1970, describes equipment for rapid loading, transporting and unloading of skiers and other passengers, comprising a loading structure and a motor vehicle, in which the loading structure is provided with a plurality of parallel separate aisles each provided with an entrance and means for admitting only a predetermined number of passengers. The Helbig patent does not describe a double hull amusement park ride vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,316, issued to Abe on Jun. 22, 1976, describes an apparatus to generate a wave-like pattern of forces on a surface effect ship that utilizes a flexible membrane which undulates in a water wave-like manner, the crests of the waves transferring forces to the surface effect ship. This apparatus permits ships of various designs to be tested for habitability and performance characteristics without the expense and bother of having the ship placed in the water. The Abe patent does not describe a double hull amusement park ride vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,517, issued to Nardozzi on Dec. 20, 1977, describes a mass transit system using an endless water way supported by a superstructure and including a bottom wall and side walls extending upwardly from the bottom wall to form a trough. The continuous forward movement of water in the waterway forwardly propels the vehicles from station to station. Conveyor devices transport the vehicles through the station at a controlled rate of speed to facilitate the boarding and departure of passengers to and from the vehicles. The Nardozzi patent does not describe a double hull amusement park ride vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,392, issued to Schemitch on Jul. 23, 1991, describes an apparatus for loading and unloading passengers from watercraft, such as for use in boat rides at amusement parks, including a substantially planar inclined platform mounted for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the platform. Watercraft traveling along a predetermined path are engaged by a section of the rotating platform as it surfaces and are lifted out of the water by the platform as it rotates. The watercraft is disengaged from the rotating platform as the section of the platform on which it rests submerges. The Schemitch patent does not describe a double hull amusement park ride vehicle.
Prior art amusement ride vehicles have been difficult to enter and exit and have not allowed easy access to passengers in wheelchairs. Therefore, an amusement ride vehicle that avoids these disadvantages is needed.